Fighting Spirit
by Karu Leonnese
Summary: In which Amarant discovers there's more than one way to beat a monkey. So who's gonna win? [giftficceh, slash AmaZidane]
1. Kissy Kissy

Fighting Spirit

by Karu Leonnese

Chapter One: Kissy Kissy

A/N: I told Gar-san from LJ that I'd write her some Amarant/Zidane slash when I got a grip on the Salamander. I prolly still don't, but this just popped in my head and I felt like I had to write it. -grins- So this is for her, and for Devilish Kurumi, who gave meh a basis for Amarant with her awesome Amarant/Kuja ficceh, Wishful Thinking!

Warnings: A little bit of slash, tho nothing TOO bad. Some violence and language in there too. Basically anything you've come to expect. Oh yeah, maybe some chara abuse, but only according to Amarant. He finds EVERYONE annoying!

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It's a long walk through the desert. It's a long walk when you're by yourself. If the heat doesn't kill you, the random creatures running around might. But there's one thing that makes a long walk seem like an eternity.

Traveling with other people.

Amarant was discovering this the hard way. He kept to the back of his new group, watching them carefully. Each one of them was different, and some particularly annoying.

There was the girl, Eiko. Amarant half-regretted his decision to keep Lani from killing the girl when the opportunity presented itself. The little summoner turned out to be nothing but an annoying little liability. Yes, she could hold her own for the most part, but already they'd run into a few situations when one of the others had to come to her rescue. And she was a kid. Amarant hated kids. Plus she had a mouth on her…

Then there was the princess. Dagger, or Garnet, or whatever the hell she wanted to call herself. While she wasn't as grating on the nerves as Eiko, she had her moments as well. Sure, she was cute, but for the majority of the time she was really a bit of a ditz. And in battle she was even weaker than the kid.

The other kid, Vivi. Creepy as hell upon the first look. Knowing the power behind those bastard Black Mages, it was hard not to feel a little unease around him. But he was different. He did have the same capabilities, but he had free will as well. But outside of battle was another story. He was clumsy and non-confrontational, two things that would get him walked over for the rest of his life. However long that was.

And last was the monkey. Zidane. What in the hell had he been thinking, figuring there was something more to the boy than he first thought. Yeah, he could kick ass in a fight, but he had more of a mouth on him than Eiko, and that was saying something. But the guy had charisma, Amarant had to give him that. The others followed him without question, and a few times even he'd found himself doing the same.

Aforementioned party leader was at the front of the group…well, leading. Behind him was Vivi, who rarely left the monkey's side. Then came the princess, keeping a careful eye on Eiko. Amarant was last, examining the party. He was also examining his own sanity, tagging along with this lot.

"Hey," Eiko stopped suddenly, almost causing Amarant to run her over. He probably would've kept going if it wouldn't have been such a mess to clean up later. 1

Zidane sighed a bit, turning to her. "What?"

She put her hands on her hips. "Where are we going? I thought we were going back to the Iifa Tree!"

"We're going back to Conte Piete first, to prepare. We don't know what Kuja's up to, so we're gonna need some supplies."

She pouted. "What about all the stuff we got from my place?"

Vivi, who kept count of the items and equipment most of the time, spoke up. "We used most of that walking back."

"Besides," Zidane continued, "We're gonna need some stronger armor and weapons. We haven't upgraded in awhile."

"Humph. I'll bet you guys are just scared."

Amarant crossed his arms, glaring down at the small girl. "Better a prepared victor than a fast death."

"They're right, Eiko," Garnet explained patiently.

Eiko glared some more, then finally sighed and started walking again. Truth be told, Amarant was welcoming one more night in a town. It gave him a chance to get really drunk one more time before attempting his own suicide. This Kuja guy looked like a girl, but he packed some unnatural power. He was not looking forward to this.

He confused himself. Here he was, about to follow this group into a potentially fatal battle. He could just leave at any time, but still, he stayed. Amarant knew how to choose his battles, and all his instincts told him this was one to sit out. So why was he even still here?

He brushed it off as pure desire to defeat Zidane. His pride kept him going, so he could take the monkey on again and win. He could repay the debt of sparing his life so he could leave. Amarant hated being in debt to anyone.

Besides, traveling with them, they were bound to run into Lani again. The little bitch had managed to leave with a few of his things in the last encounter, while he was busy with Zidane. Amarant needed to have a little 'talk' with her about that.

Amarant looked up. He'd been so wrapped up in his thoughts that he hadn't noticed Zidane had started walking backwards, watching the rest of the party. Confused, Amarant shot the monkey a look. He grinned in return.

"Boy, you guys look like you need some cheering up."

"We're in the middle of the desert, Zidane. How cheerful do you expect us to be?" Garnet sighed, looking for all the world like the only chaperone on a kindergarten field trip.

"Hey, look on the bright side! You could be dead by now!"

Amarant snorted. "What a comforting thought."

Zidane crossed his arms, tail swaying behind him. "I think I know exactly what you all need!"

"Sleep?" Garnet supplied.

"Sugar?" Eiko added.

"S-sunscreen?" Vivi helped.

"A one-way ticket out of this hell hole?" Amarant muttered.

The blond laughed. "A SONG!"

Amarant felt his eye twitch slightly. "What?"

Apparently, this confused the others as well. All eyes were on Zidane, ranging from confusion to a murderous glare.

Zidane turned around with a spin, making a show of marching. Then he began to sing. "You're a girl, I'm a boy. We're too old to play with toys. Won't you tell me your name? You could be my favourite game!"

"What?" Vivi blinked.

"What the hell are you doing?" Amarant snapped.

Garnet laughed. Eiko tilted her head, staring at Zidane for a moment, before finally joining in with the princess.

"Kissy kissy makes me happy, honey honey, sweet as candy! Kissy kissy take my hand and come along with me!"

"That sounds familiar for some reason…" Vivi put a hand behind his head. 2

"Kissy kissy makes me happy, honey honey, sweet as candy! Kissy kissy love is grand, with you, my sugar bee!" he turned back slightly, watching them. "Now everybody join in!"

Garnet and Eiko were too busy laughing to sing anything. Zidane continued and Vivi tried to follow, while Amarant was silent, glaring daggers at the blond.

"Kissy kissy makes me happy…" Zidane looked directly at Amarant, grinning. "What, not a fan of sing-alongs?"

The redhead's eye twitched once more. "You're going to stop that…voluntarily or otherwise."

The monkey laughed. "I'll take that as a no." He and Vivi continued singing, this time managing to get Eiko to breathe enough to join in.

They were all singing—except Amarant, of course—by the time they reached the dwarven city. Amarant had never been so glad to see civilization in all his life. He left the group at the inn, where everyone parted ways after getting rooms. Amarant refused to stay with the group, getting his own room. After confirming his sleeping arrangements, he went off in search of some equipment upgrading. The town didn't have much in the way of things for someone of his size, but he made do. Accomplishing this, we went for the most important trip he had in this town.

He headed straight to the tavern.

There he stayed for the rest of the day, and even into the night. He had a nice, steady buzz going on after the fourteenth or so drink. It was about then when a song started going through his head. His drunken mind brought it to his lips without him even realizing it at first.

"…Honey honey, sweet as candy…"

He stopped, sat up straight and blinked a few times. Maybe he was a bit TOO drunk. Walking out the door toward the inn, he could only think of one thing.

He was going to kill that damned monkey.

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1: It's kind of a joke I have about Amarant accidentally stepping on Eiko, so there's nothing but goo and a yellow bow on the bottom of his shoe. Zidane tells him that's gross and to clean it up, and Vivi just looks shocked and says Eww. I use it on my friend, who happens to beh an Eiko fan (tho I can't understand why…)

2 Another joke that Kuja was singing a bunch of DDR songs like this when he was making Vivi, so Viv gets them running through his head sometimes. Zidane happens to know some of them as well.

Karu: Well, that's it for the first chappeh. The actual slash comes up in the next one, rest assured. Sorry, but the image of Zidane singing DDR songs just amuses meh a little too much. There will also beh piccehs from this, as well as other FFIX artwork on my DevArt account ( karuleonnese) as soon as I get some scanning done. So, what's everyone think? Did I do okay with Amarant?

Until next time!


	2. Another Battleground

Chapter Two: Another Battleground

A/N: Okay, so I was supposed to update 'C' Series first…and work a little in the Saiyuki category. But this was just too much fun to pass up! This chappeh dives a bit deeper into the slash warning. So if this bothers you, do like I used to and read until it starts then scroll 'till it's over. -grins-

Hey Gar, about our deal. What happens when I write Ama/ Zidane? Are you gonna write one too, or try a Zidane/Vivi? Either way's good for meh. -wags tail- And Kurumi, you're slowly addicting meh to the Ama/Kuja pairing…

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Amarant slowly trudged up the stairs of the inn. Annoyed with himself for staying out most of the night, he was going to fall into bed and not wake up until he was damn well ready. Screw the monkey and his death wish.

Besides…he owed him for that little sing-along stunt this afternoon.

He was almost at his door when he heard someone come up the stairs behind him. Reflexes ensued, and he ducked behind the hallway corner. Zidane came down the hall, humming the same damned song as he went. Amarant considered ignoring him, and letting him pass in favour of what little sleep he had left to get.

Apparently somewhere, Amarant was a closet masochist.

He stepped out of his hiding place, leaning against the wall and glaring at the monkey. A bit shocked to see the large bounty hunter come out of nowhere, Zidane stopped.

"Hey…" he nodded, tail swaying behind him idly.

"Mm," Amarant replied.

Zidane watched the redhead watching him. "What?"

Amarant didn't answer, but gave the other a look that asked for an explanation.

"What's up with you?" he grinned strangely. "It's like your sizing me up for a fight, or to eat or something."

He raised an eyebrow. "Who says I'm not?"

Zidane tilted his head, and for a moment Amarant was actually convinced the boy was confused. "For a fight, or to eat?"

Amarant blinked a few times, taken aback by the question. That wasn't what he'd been expecting. "What the hell?"

Zidane laughed, which actually sounded nice. Amarant shook the thought from his head. "I'm just kidding. You take everything so seriously, Ama."

The bounty hunter frowned. "Don't call me that."

"Aw, but you said I could call you whatever I liked."

"Anything but THAT."

He laughed again. Why did he laugh so much? "So what are you doing?"

"Hiding in a hallway so I can jump out and give you a fatal heart attack," he drawled. "Why?"

Zidane's smile turned into a smirk. "Did you actually just make a joke?"

"I have my moments. What do you want?"

Suddenly sheepish, the monkey rubbed the back of his head with a gloved hand. "Well, I was kinda hoping…maybe you wouldn't mind some company?"

Amarant rolled his eyes. "What about me has led you to believe that I'd ever want your company?"

"Er…it's not exactly that. I'm just…kinda awake right now, and…"

He finished for him. "…And you want me to stay up and talk to you because I'm the only one left awake by now."

Zidane laughed awkwardly. "I guess that's why you're a bounty hunter…"

Amarant unlocked his door. "No, I'm a bounty hunter because it's easy…until I run into weirdoes like you, that is."

Zidane shrugged, following the larger man into the room. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"It wasn't one," he muttered offhand. "So what the hell's your problem?"

Zidane leaned against the wall now, with his hands behind his back, trapped between him and the wall. "I dunno. I'm just wondering if this is such a good idea. I mean, I know we've gotta do it, but are any of us really ready to take on Kuja?"

He was worried about the mission. Great, he picks the night before to have second thoughts. "It's really your call."

"Yeah, but what about the others? I'd never forgive myself if something happened to them. Or you for that matter."

Amarant snorted. "I can take care of myself thanks. And if not, I know when to hightail it."

Zidane was looking absently at the floor. "I suppose so. Though I wonder if it'd just be better to leave the others. Eiko's just a kid, and I feel terrible for getting Vivi involved in all this. And I should take Garnet back to her uncle…"

He was thinking about dropping the princess. Obviously, he wasn't getting any from her.

"So you'd do it alone?"

He smiled sadly. "Kuja needs to be stopped at any rate. I don't mind fighting him, but I don't like the idea of putting the others in danger."

"What about me?" Amarant found himself asking.

"You? Well, you said it yourself that you know when to fight and when to bail. I figure if I'm leaving the others, you'd go too."

"And you're okay with that?"

The boy laughed humourlessly. "It's your call."

Finding his words repeated to him, he crossed his arms. "There's no honour in letting someone fight an uneven battle by themselves."

"So you'd stay?"

Amarant was surprised to figure out that he would. For some reason, leaving the monkey's side seemed unthinkable. Once again, he blamed his pride.

It was then, watching the monkey with his gaze on the floorboards, that the idea struck Amarant. Battles weren't always won by fighting. There were other ways to go about things. The important thing was to play upon your enemy's weakness. Besides, he looked kind of pretty, standing there like that.

Maybe he was a little too drunk for his own good.

By the time he'd realized this, however, he had already moved. He was leaning over the monkey's smaller form, bracing himself against the wall with one arm. Zidane looked up at him in surprise, face flushing a bit.

"Amarant…?"

"You're going to have to decide this for yourself. You're the leader, after all."

"Okay, but what are you—?"

Too late to back down now. Amarant cut him off. "But before we go and kill ourselves out of charity…I'm going to get my revenge."

His eyes were wide, and he backed up against the wall. He looked partially like a girl, Amarant supposed that would make what he was attempting easier. "Revenge…?"

Amarant silenced him by grabbing a fistful of blond hair and pulling the monkey towards him. Their faces were only inches apart. "You may have bested me in a fight, but I'm still going to make sure you're begging me for mercy."

Before the blond could answer, Amarant pulled him closer still, crushing their lips together in a bruising kiss. Surprised, Zidane responded instinctively.

The bounty hunter wrapped his other hand around the boy's wrist, yanking him off the wall and flung him forward. Zidane tripped and fell backwards, landing on the bed. Immediately Amarant was on top of him, one hand holding both the thief's arms above his head.

Zidane's breath was coming in short gasps, adrenaline rushing from the kiss and the shock. He tried unsuccessfully to move his arms, but they were pinned tight. Not that he was exactly adverse to the situation, mind you, but it was definitely not one he'd thought would happen.

The monkey arched his back as a hot hand reached under the hem of his shirt. Vaguely he noticed that Amarant wasn't wearing his gloves and realized he hadn't really ever seen the bounty hunter without them. He made a small whimpering noise in the back of his throat when the hand was removed, but it moved to his chin, pulling it up and forcing him to look straight into Amarant's eyes.

"…A…"

"Don't you go zoning out on me."

He nodded, panting a bit. Amarant's hand returned to it's original place, tracing down Zidane's side. The blond hissed through clenched teeth.

"Well?"

Zidane squeezed his eyes shut. It was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on anything except the burning touch. What did Amarant want? Anything to keep him doing what he was doing…

"Ama…"

His hand traveled lower, coming to rest on a VERY sensitive area. The thief let out a shaky moan.

"Gods Amarant…please…"

The redhead smirked. "That's what I thought."

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And…done. Yes I'm leaving you at that. You want any more, you'll just have to imagine it for yourself. I've got a rating to hold together. So will this lead to anything but an awkward morning after? And are they ever going after Kuja? Find out in the next chappeh! But in the meantime, here's some review responses!

Gargant Surprise: I'll put these here, even if you comment on LJ. -winks- Cuz I've just got so much to thank you for! You're a real inspiration, you know that?

PInkrose555: -laughs- Thankehs. This part's not as funny, but I hope you enjoyed it nonetheless!


	3. City Limits and Captain Jack

Chapter Three: City Limits and Captain Jack

Notes: Okay, my days off have been severely lacking lately, so I've had some trouble updating. But I'm trying, cuz I'm really enjoying this ficceh. There's one more chappeh after this one, and two more on 'C' Series. But I've already got some other ideas lined up.

I really can't resist these DDR songs. And a Conte Petie accent is annoyingly hard to attempt.

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When Zidane awoke that morning, he knew already that he'd slept in. The light outside was too bright. He shifted slightly, and felt something warm beside him.

Amarant. Oh shit.

The bounty hunter was laying on his side, facing away from him, aloof even in sleep. Zidane didn't move. His shirt had bunched up during his sleep, exposing a better part of his waist. When he had turned, he had accidentally pressed himself against the sleeping redhead, and warm skin connected.

Zidane sighed a bit despite himself, relaxing. Okay, so that felt good. There was no harm in sleeping in a little. Everyone needed it anyway. And there were only a few things right now that were going to coax the monkey out of this warm bed he was sharing.

Someone knocked on the door. Dammit. Zidane growled, easing himself up and padding to the door.

"Yeah?" he asked, mildly annoyed as he swung the door open.

"Oh…" Vivi stood on the other side, looking a bit uncomfortable and more than a bit confused. "I-I was going to ask Amarant if he knew where you were, but…I guess he does…"

Zidane's face flushed. "Vivi! Um…I lost my room key last night, so I roomed with Amarant so I wouldn't have to wake you all up."

Vivi looked at the monkey for awhile, as if considering whether or not to believe this. To the boy's credit, at least he knew Zidane enough to know that his past had given him the ability to lie very convincingly. Finally he shook his head slightly. "Gar—er, Dagger says we should split up for equipment shopping."

Zidane grinned. "I hope I didn't keep her waiting."

The small Mage blinked. "What?"

The grin faded. "She's…not going with me is she?"

"Nope. Her and Eiko left earlier this morning."

The blond hung his head a little. "Okay, I'll be down in a minute."

Vivi's eyes dimmed slightly, almost unperceptively. "I'll see about some breakfast…"

The boy left and Zidane sighed.

"Lost your key?" Amarant's voice spoke up. There was a noticeable trace of amusement in his tone.

"Well, what was I supposed to do, tell a ten year-old I'm here cuz you decided you wanted to molest me last night?" Zidane snapped, turning around with his arms crossed.

Amarant snorted, pulling his shirt over his head. "I thought getting some action usually put people in a GOOD mood."

"Very funny…" Zidane rolled his eyes. "What was up with that anyway?"

"What?"

The monkey glared at him. "You know what."

Amarant shrugged, lifting his arms over his head in a drawn out stretch. "Thought it would be interesting. Besides," he smirked, "I didn't hear you complaining."

Zidane opened his mouth to speak, but closed it without a word.

"And before you ask," the bounty hunter continued, walking past the blond to the door, "don't count on it happening again. It's not gonna be some happy regular occurrence relationship thing."

He left Zidane staring at the wall, clenching his fists.

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Vivi was waiting downstairs when Zidane finally calmed down enough to get dressed. The young Mage was at the counter, with Amarant sitting on his left side. He sat down on the boy's other side, where a hot breakfast was waiting. Amarant had already started his, eating silently.

"Thanks Viv. You ready to head out after this?"

The boy nodded absently, poking his food with a fork. Zidane thought this was odd. It was then he noticed the dimness of his eyes.

"You okay?"

"…I'm fine." He replied automatically.

Zidane frowned. "You don't look fine. You know you can tell me if something's wrong, no matter what." Sometimes Zidane forgot that Vivi was only ten.

Vivi took a deep breath. "I…I'm sorry Dagger left you with me."

The blond's face softened. "Oh Vivi, I'm sorry! I didn't mean that I didn't want you with me!"

"Really?"

"Of course," he started on his meal, "Look, I was just in a bad mood this morning." He chanced a glare at Amarant, who met his gaze and shrugged concomitantly. It wasn't his problem. "I like being paired up with you. It'll be more fun than hanging out with those girls all day."

The boy's eyes regained their brightness. "Okay!"

Amarant watched them. He raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

They set out after breakfast. Amarant trailed along, having bought his things yesterday. Besides, there was something he was trying to figure out. Something about why it was so interesting watching Zidane interact with the kid.

And why it made him want to smile.

He shook his head to clear it. He'd already told Zidane there was nothing between them but revenge. Besides, he hated the monkey. He hated how he was always so cheerful. How he always laughed. How he had looked under him last night, flushed with his eyes squeezed shut…

Time to derail THAT train of thought and kill any survivors.

"Are you always this quiet, or am I just not doing enough to annoy you?" Zidane asked, glancing back at him.

"Is there any reply I can give that won't result in more of your stupid antics?"

He pretended to think about this. "Hmm. Nope, don't think so."

Amarant groaned. Vivi giggled a bit and Zidane beamed. At least the kid was getting a kick out of this. Upon retrospect, the blond had been right in not telling him about last night. No use in scarring him for life, not when he was actually starting to like having him around. And besides, it looked like the boy was developing a little crush on the monkey. Amarant wondered if either of them knew.

"—don't need anything?" Amarant caught the tail end of Zidane's question. He was zoning off an awful lot today.

"I got everything," he replied, pretending he'd heard him.

Zidane nodded. "Okay then Viv, it's just for you and me then."

Amarant looked around. There wasn't much of anything in Conte Petie, but it was well off enough to supply them. It was pretty late in the afternoon. When they slept in, they SLEPT. The stores were filled with dwarves, doing their shopping. Amarant towered over them all, Vivi and Zidane included. Like being waist-deep in a sea of people.

He laughed to himself. Maybe he WAS in a good mood today.

Vivi struggled through the crowd, only the tip of his hat raising above the dwarves. Zidane reached for him before he got lost, grabbing his hand. He pulled the boy through the crowd, with Amarant bringing up the rear.

Apparently the dwarves were doing some fighting outside for monster control, because even the Weapon Shop was packed. While he had first found this sea of people interesting, Amarant was becoming increasingly annoyed. He wondered why everyone in town seemed to be stocking up. Was the Apocalypse coming, and no one thought to tell the out-of-towners?

"What is going ON here?" Amarant growled, sidestepping a squat dwarf who pressed against his legs.

Zidane looked back at him and shrugged, looking exasperated himself. Keeping a tight hold on Vivi's hand, he wove his way to the counter. "Why's it so busy?" he practically had to yell to be heard over the din of the place.

"Ya dinna know?" the cashier asked, ringing up sales as he answered. "Thir's a fest'val commin. Thill all beh oot en th' forest t'night."

Zidane and Vivi swam back to Amarant, who'd refused to go any deeper into the crowd than he already was. "Something about a festival. I'm guessing it's like the Festival of the Hunt back on our continent. They'll all be gone in a little while. Let's just come back then."

Amarant nodded, backing out the door. He felt better, being in the open air. Apparently Vivi felt the same, because the redhead heard a small sigh of relief escape him.

"So what do we do until the Festival starts?" Zidane took a seat on the fence in front of the shop.

"Cards?" Vivi suggested.

"Nah, 'm not that good," Zidane suddenly looked up, grinning.

"Don't you DARE…" Amarant started.

He jumped up from his seat, balancing easily on the fence. Walking across it, he grabbed hold of the street light, which had just flicker on to signal evening.

"What?" Vivi pulled himself onto the fence, only managing to get on the lowest beam. If Amarant didn't dislike kids, he might have found that cute.

"Attention!" Zidane pointed a finger into the air dramatically. "Hey-oh! Captain Jack!"

The Mage blinked, something clicking into place. "Hey-oh! Captain Jack!"

Zidane grinned, nodding. Amarant had to wonder where someone like Vivi knew these horrible songs. The monkey continued. "Bring me back to the railroad track!" Vivi repeated. "Gimme a gun in my hand!"

Repeat. "I wanna be your shooting man!" Repeat.

Amarant groaned. "Not again."

But they were already in full swing. "Left, right, left! The military step!"

They were having entirely too much fun with this. The dwarves had begun to filter out of the stores, preparing for their Festival. A few stopped to watch the performance. Amarant felt his face flush slightly.

They were making a damn scene.

Zidane kept it going, despite all this. "Bring me back to the railroad track! Gimme a bottle in my hand, I wanna be your drunken man!"

"Left, right, right, left!" Vivi seemed to be enjoying himself. Either he didn't notice the gathering crowd, or he was starting to pick up some of Zidane's stage charisma.

Amarant knew he had only one way to stop this. He had to beat them at their own game. It had to be done. He stepped up, leaning against the streetlight. "Bring me back to the railroad track. Gimme a woman in my hand…"

They both looked surprised, but repeated the phrase.

"I wanna be your fucking man."

Zidane repeated without question. Vivi started to, but cut himself off as the words sunk it, eyes widening. One down, one to go.

"Go left, go right, go pick up the step, go left, go right, go left!"

Zidane took a breath. "Go left, go right, go pick up the step, go—" he frowned. "You're going too fast!"

He pushed himself off the light, walking inside the shop. "I know."

The monkey hopped off the fence, following. Vivi struggled a bit disentangling himself from the beam, but caught up with the two inside.

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Er…shorter than usual. Maybeh I can cook up an extra chappeh from the rest of this…Well, what's everyone think?

Gargant Surprise: Okay, now I can't wait for your writing! -grins- Where exactly should I beh looking m'dear?

Devilish Kururi: -laughs- Calling it a 'seed' isn't such a good idea. It puts too much to the imagination. And we'll damage poor Vivi's fragile psyhe. I adore the name Ama too, tho I'm pretty sure he'd hurt us if we called him that. Thankehs for reading!


	4. Misinterpratation

Chapter Four: Misinterpratation

Notes: Ugh, I'm SO sorry about the wait on updates. I had so many schedule difficulties trying to get the weekend off for SugoiCon, so I had no time. But I'm hoping to get back into things now, and we'll start with some good Zidane/Ama angst. Yeah?

As always, for Gar-san and Kurumi.

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Zidane was grinning at Amarant the entire time. While the Weapon Shop was still pretty busy, it was nothing compared to the crowd it had been. Vivi was slowly getting over the shock of what he almost repeated. Amarant had to give him credit that he actually knew what it meant. But he was caught lately between theories that he didn't act old enough, and that he acted too old.

The monkey was still smirking at him. Amarant finally glared back. "What the hell is wrong with you now?"

"I got you to sing!"

He sighed, feeling a headache coming on. Maybe a prescription of a few drinks might cure it. "Whatever."

Zidane put his hands on his hips, grinning like the maniac Amarant was convinced he was. "Not soaloof now, are you Mr. Sing-along?" (1)

"I swear to Gaia I will hurt you if you don't shut up," Amarant ran a hand through his hair. Zidane opened his mouth but the bounty hunter cut him off. "And if I hear one more damned song out of you, your ass is mine."

Zidane waited until Amarant was out of swinging range, then muttered. "I thought it wasn't a regular occurrence?"

Amarant's eye twitched, a bad sign. Vivi hid a bit behind Zidane. At least the kid had some sense. He shook his head, refusing to let the blond get to him. "I said your ass would be mine…not the rest of you."

Zidane laughed. "Whoo. Score."

Amarant decided this had gone on long enough. "Are you done yet?"

The monkey shrugged. "We've been done for awhile. I was just having some fun with you Ama."

He put a hand to his forehead. "Haven't I told you not to call me that?"

Another grin. "Yeeeeees."

"Then why do you keep doing it?"

He started to usher Vivi out of the shop. "Because I think it's a cute name."

"Do you know how much I hate you?

Zidane laughed. "I can guess," before Amarant had a chance to defend himself, Zidane hopped up, planting a kiss on his cheek. He felt the blood rush to his face in response.

"Damn monkey!" Amarant chased Zidane out of the store. The thief laughed, grabbing Vivi by the hand and dragging the boy along.

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Dagger and Eiko were waiting for them when they returned to the inn, out of breath from running all the way. Zidane slumped into one of the empty chairs, putting his hands behind his head. "Wow, a meal waiting for me every time I come here. I could get used to this."

"You guys are so slow! We were done hours ago!" Eiko gave a piece of her chicken to Mog, who was perched in her lap.

"I happen to appreciate the value of a good night's sleep is all," Zidane replied sagely. Amarant and Vivi sat beside him.

"And I suppose you had a good night's sleep in someone else's bed?" Dagger asked lightly. Dangerous ground.

Amarant, who had just started eating, almost choked. Dagger looked at him, surprised.

"Aww, c'mon Dagger! Why would I do something like that, when I have you for company?"

She shook her head. "I don't know why I bother…"

Amarant stood. "You've got problems monkey. I'm eating in my room." He took his plate and went.

As he made his way up the stairs, he started to hear an echo of his steps. Bounty hunter instincts kicked him, and he whirled around into a fighting stance. An impressive feat on its own, with the added skill of managing to keep his dinner from spilling.

Vivi let out a yelp, backing up a bit. "S-Sorry!"

Amarant shook his head, turning back around. "What do you want, kid?'

Vivi hurried to catch up with him as he went down the hall. "W-Well…I was wondering about you and Zidane…"

Christ, now even the kid was asking questions. The whole thing was a mistake. An amazingly hot mistake…

Dammit.

"Um…are you okay?"

Amarant blinked. "I'm fine."

Vivi looked up at him, still trying to match his pace. "Oh. I was just wondering, since you usually seem so alert. You've been spacing out a lot today, if you don't mind me saying."

The redhead decided to be honest, at least with the kid. "I don't. I was thinking the same thing."

He nodded, adjusting his floppy hat. Amarant wondered vaguely if Vivi still felt nervous around him. "I can tell. You're quiet all the time, like me. I'll bet you're always thinking about something."

Amarant almost smiled. "You might say that."

There was a silence between them that lasted until they reached Amarant's room. At first it looked like Vivi was going to continue on to his room, but he stopped.

"Amarant?"

At least he hadn't picked up on Zidane's nickname. "Hmm?"

Vivi seemed to consider his words carefully. "You're not—you and Zidane aren't really going to hurt each other, are you?"

If it were anyone else, Amarant would have told him he'd beat the monkey within an inch of his miserable life without a second thought. But he found he couldn't say that to Vivi. The kid was right; they were a lot alike. But Vivi had an innocence that none of them could, and Amarant couldn't bring himself to hurt that. Maybe he was getting soft.

Instead he shrugged, opening the door. "I'm thinking about it."

He stepped inside and shut the door, leaving a thoroughly shocked Back Mage standing there.

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Amarant was packing his things for morning when someone started pounding on his door. With a disgusted sigh, he opened it. Immediately Zidane stepped into the room.

"What the hell did you say to Vivi!" he demanded.

Amarant was momentarily taken aback. He shook his head. "What are you talking about?"

He crossed his arms. "He's in the other room, convinced we're going to kill each other! What did you tell him!"

Amarant suddenly understood. "He asked if we were going to hurt each other, and I told him I didn't know. It's not my fault that's how he interpreted it."

"You don't tell him things like that!" Zidane yelled, throwing his arms up in exasperation. "Don't you know anything about kids!"

"Obviously not!" Amarant snapped back, "But at least I have the decency not to lie to him!"

"I cannot BELIEVE you!" Zidane clenched his fists, stomping his foot to express his anger.

"Well, then I guess I won't wait for morning," he grabbed his bag, slinging it over a shoulder. "See you around, you damn monkey."

"Amarant, wait—" Zidane started. Amarant walked past him without a word and walked out the door.

He made it all the way out of the inn before he heard Zidane catch up with him. "Go back inside."

Zidane didn't answer. Amarant had time to turn around before he noticed Zidane hadn't stopped running. He plowed into the taller man with considerable speed, knocking Amarant to the ground and landing on top of him.

"What the hell--?" he stopped short, hearing Zidane was mumbling something. The blond's head was buried in his chest, muffling his words further. Amaranth strained to hear, and finally caught some of it.

"I can't."

Amarant pushed himself up on his elbows. "You can't what?"

Zidane looked up, his face for once, serious and sad. "I can't do this by myself."

He frowned. "You can't do what? What are you talking about?"

Zidane's hands tightened, clutching the fabric of Amarant's shirt. "You wanted to beat me, right? Well you did, and you didn't have to fight me. I can't do this without you anymore, so you win."

Amarant shook his head. "I don't—"

"Please," Zidane cut him off, "You can't leave. I don't know why, but I've gotten so used to you being here that I rely on it, and if you leave, I'm going to fall apart."

Amarant regarded him quietly. "You're serious, aren't you?"

Zidane didn't say anything. He shifted so they were face to face. Then he closed the distance between them in a slow deep kiss. Amarant, too shocked to do anything, instinctually responded.

The blond wrapped his arms around Amarant's neck, pulling him closer. Tilting his head, he nudged the bounty hunter's mouth open.

When he felt Zidane's tongue in his mouth, Amarant's brain finally registered the situation. With a confused noise, he pulled away. He frowned, noticing he was slightly out of breath. "I thought I said it wasn't going to be a regular occurrence…

For a moment, Amarant saw the most defeated look he'd ever seen flash across Zidane's face, and he felt like the scum of the planet for putting it there. But almost immediately, it was gone, replaced with a sad smile. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry…"

Amarant sighed. "Whatever. Let's just go back inside."

Zidane didn't move. "You're not going to leave?"

"We'll talk about it inside. Now let's go before some dwarf starts thinking we're a couple or something."

The monkey looked relieved. He squirmed off Amarant, and the bounty hunter was surprised with himself that he felt a small loss when he did. He shook it off, getting up and heading back into the inn.

Amarant was silent the entire trip back to his room, so Zidane wisely did the same. The redhead unlocked his door. Upon retrospect, if he had really thought he was leaving, why did he lock his door and take the key?

This question went unanswered, as Zidane turned to look at him again with that pleading look. "Are you staying?"

Amarant looked away, defeated. "I guess I'll stick around."

He nodded, smiling again. "I'm sorry I yelled at you."

Amarant shrugged. "Like I care. People yell at me all the time."

Zidane looked like he was about to say something, but decided to drop it. Instead he sat on the edge of the bed.

Before he could stop himself, Amarant sat down beside him. "Did you mean what you said out there?"

The thief blinked in confusion for a moment, before nodding. "Yeah. You did win, right? I mean, if I can't survive without you here to help, then technically it means I can't live without you. So the way I see it, you're the winner, because you hold the power, y'know?'

Amarant snorted. "Do you really think you should be telling me just how much power I have over you?"

Zidane shrugged. "If it'll get you to stay, I'd tell you everything I know."

He shook his head with a small smile. "You're such a girl, you know that?"

"Hey!" He looked mock-offended.

"Anyway, about this relationship thing you seem to want to have…"

Zidane's face flushed, and he looked away. "Well I—"

The redhead cut him off. "I'm not saying it'll be some cutesy 'honey-darling- thing, but at least…"

He turned back to look at him, managing a small smile of his own. "Friends with benefits?'

Amarant made a face. "I hate that term."

Zidane tilted his head questionably. "Then what do you wanna call it?"

The taller man smirked, leaning forward. "How about…rivals with benefits?"

Zidane laughed.

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(1) Sorry Kurumi, but that line made meh laugh so hard I just HAD to use it!

Karu: Well, that's it for this chappeh. There's one left out of this one. –flails- Ugh, everyone's so horribly out of character in this one! Except Vivi. I like how that part turned out. Well, hope everyone liked it regardless. And now for review responses!

Devilish Kurumi: Whoo, thankehs. I really do hate it tho. And Thankehs also for pimping meh on Deepest Blue. I've got it saved to read, but I wish I could review constantly. Just know that I think it's one of the most awesome ficcehs I've read in awhile!

Ameki-Elisa: Thankehs! You have no idea how much the Captain Jack thing still amuses meh. The Kissy Kissy thing too. -laughs- Yeah, Zidane/Kuja is alright, but I think Zidane/Ama's more fun. And there's always my Zidane/Vivi kick. Zidane's just a bit of a whore, isn't he? -grins-

Until next time everyone!


	5. Before the Storm

Chapter Five: Before the Storm

Notes: Okay, so I lied. You get more of this ficceh. Is that a good thing? I hope so!

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Amaranth woke up the next morning, coming to a slow realization that once again he was not alone. Zidane was curled on his side, with his head resting on Amarant's shoulder. The bounty hunter had wrapped an arm around him in his sleep.

How did this keep happening? He hated the monkey. He despised him and wanted nothing more than to win this stupid contest he'd set up in his mind. So why did the boy interest him so much? And what the hell had he been drinking to begin anything with him, let alone something bordering dangerously to a relationship?

Zidane's words from the previous night came back to him. Did the blond want him to stay that much? The look in his eyes when Amarant had left had surprised him. He'd never guessed the depth of Zidane's feelings.

Beside him, the monkey stirred, waking with a small noise. "…Ama?"

"I don't know what time it is…but from the near-lack of sunlight I'd say it's pretty early."

Zidane nestled his head back on Amarant's shoulder. "'M still tired."

Amarant laughed a bit. "Lazy ass monkey."

He stuck his tongue out, not bothering to open his eyes.

"So are we moving on, or are you putting it off some more?"

"Haven't decided yet," he replied honestly. "But I feel a little better knowing you're here."

"You sound like a chick," he drawled.

"Good. Maybe you'll screw me senseless then."

"Thought I did that already…"

"You know what? He trailed off.

Amarant waited for him to continue. When he didn't, the bounty hunter looked down to find he'd drifted back to sleep.

Tired of contemplating why his brain was so fucked up, Amarant joined him.

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"I don't think we should be in here."

"Are you kidding? We're like adventurers, exploring the dark and forbidden!"

"It's forbidden aright. If he catches us in here, we'll be in major trouble!"

"Quit yer whining! Do you wanna see if he's in here or not?"

"…Okay."

The sun had only just begun to rise, poking a few holes of light into the near-darkness of the room. Amaranth awoke for the second time that morning, hearing muffled voices at his door. When he started to hear the sounds of a lock being picked, he slowly got up, careful not to wake the monkey sleeping beside him.

Amaranth stood in front of the door, ready for whatever hapless thieves decided the room looked like an easy target. The door slowly opened and Amarant slammed a fist against the doorway.

Eiko and Vivi screamed.

Zidane woke with a start, scrambling up and managing to fall to the floor in a mass of blanket and boy. "What's going on!"

"He scared us!" Eiko accused, pointing a finger angrily at Amarant, who crossed his arms.

"Little kids shouldn't go around picking locks," he replied icily.

Zidane sat up. "You picked his lock?"

The summoner nodded. "Vivi said you were probably here again last night, so I wanted to see!"

The blond looked at Vivi, who was looking down. Did he feel bad about sneaking in, or was it something else?

"Anyway, Dagger's waiting downstairs. She wants to know if we're leaving today," Eiko grabbed Vivi by the sleeve, jarring his thoughts. "So hurry up and get your butts down there!"

She left, dragging a thoroughly startled Black Mage along for the ride.

Zidane sighed, still sitting on the floor. He leaned his back against the bed frame. "Is it possible to wake up normally around here?"

Amarant snorted. "Not with all the nut jobs you hang out with."

He closed his eyes, leaning his head back. "Something's wrong with Vivi."

The redhead sat on the bed next to him. "You're just now noticing?"

Zidane looked up at him. "What do you mean?"

Amarant shook his head. "And I thought I was supposed to be the antisocial one. Can't you tell the kid's in love with you?"

"What? What're you talking about? He's too young to—"

"Just because he looks young doesn't mean he really is. He's different. I've never seen a kid act as old as he does."

Zidane blinked. "You sure know a lot about this…"

The bounty hunter shrugged. "I spend my time watching you all…I pick up things."

Zidane got to his feet, stretching languidly. "Well, at nay rate, we'd better get down there. I guess there's no use in avoiding it…"

Amarant, pulling his shirt on, raised an eyebrow. "You still can't decide?"

His shoulders slumped. "It's a hard decision, okay?"

"Why don't you ask them?"

Zidane stared at him for a moment. "You think that'll work?"

Amarant opened the door, ushering the blond out. "Only one way to find out…"

He sighed, starting down the stairs. They were waiting for him at the bottom. Behind him, Amarant blocked his escape route. "Hey guys…"

"So what's the deal?" Eiko crossed her arms. "Are we going to fight Kuja or not?"

Zidane looked at Amarant briefly, who nodded. "I…wanted to be sure you all knew you can back out if you want. No one's making you fight, and we won't hold anything against you if you decide to quit."

Everyone was silent a moment.

"Done now?" Dagger put her hands on her hips.

The thief blinked. "You're all staying?"

"Of course, you dork!" Eiko grinned. "We've all come this far, right?"

"I have to save my mother," Dagger reminded him.

"And I have to find out why he made the Black Mages," Vivi spoke up quietly.

"You're all absolutely sure you want to do this?" Zidane frowned.

"I could've told you a long time ago that none of them would leave," Amarant leaned against the banister.

The monkey looked back at him with mock-anger. "Then why didn't you?"

He shrugged, a small smile tugging on his face. "It's more fun to watch you squirm."

Zidane started to say something, but after a look towards the other three still standing there, he wisely kept his mouth shut.

"So what are we waiting for?" Eiko grinned.

"Breakfast."

She glared at him. "I was going to do a 'let's start the adventure' one-liner!"

Amarant's smirk grew. "I know."

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Once again, the redhead watched the rest of the party. They had quite a bit of distance to cover, and he monitored them for signs of slowing down. He knew Zidane was doing the same thing.

They stopped sometime around mid-afternoon, reaching Madain Sari. Zidane told them they had an hour, and everyone split up to do whatever they wanted to do on what might be their last day alive.

Amarant wandered around. He didn't care about final considerations. This was just another fight. If you went in there thinking about death, you were as good as damned.

Walking along the balcony of Eiko's house, he found Vivi gazing up at the clouds. He decided the least he could do was help the kid out a little.

He walked up beside him. "Hey."

The Mage looked at him, a bit startled. "H-Hi."

Amarant waited, seeing if the boy would speak. He didn't. Amarant really hadn't expected it. Vivi usually never initiated a conversation, unless it was with Zidane. This only proved his point further.

"Listen kid…" he suddenly felt very awkward. "I'm sorry if I scared you last night."

It was odd how he could read Vivi's eyes, even if they weren't human. They brightened a bit, relieved. "Really? Thanks. A-Are you and Zidane still fighting?"

Amarant frowned in thought. He hadn't considered that. Zidane had already told him he'd won, so technically the fight was over, wasn't it?

"…I guess not."

Instead of being happy like Amarant thought he'd be, the boy looked near tears. "So…you're gonna leave now, right?"

Again, Amarant was surprised. "What?"

"Y-You said that the only reason you were here was to fight Zidane. So now you don't have a reason to…s-stay…"

He hadn't thought of that either. The kid was right. He should be walking out now, ready to move on. But odd as it was, he didn't want to. He actually wanted to stay with this group of weirdoes. "I can't leave now."

Now it was Vivi's turn to be surprised.  
Why? Is it because of Kuja?"

He could say that it was. It would save a lot of trouble in the long ruin. But he was starting to develop a complex about Vivi that he couldn't lie to him.

"Might be. I'm not really sure. I'll stick around for awhile though, see where all this leads."

Vivi nodded. "I'm glad. At first I thought you were scary, but I found out you're pretty cool. I'd feel bad if you left now."

Amarant raised an eyebrow. "You want me to stay?"

"Yeah! Did you think I didn't?" he looked genuinely worried that Amarant thought he hated him.

He shrugged. "Didn't really know either way," he smiled, tugging on the boy's hat a little. "Nice talking to you."

Vivi beamed. Yeah, you too."

He left before he said something even more incriminating. He wandered towards the edge of town, taking a seat on one of the huge rocks and waiting for the others to show up.

He must've fallen asleep or something, because the next thing he knew, he was opening his eyes to bright sunlight.

Something was putting a light pressure around his leg. Sitting up a bit, he saw Zidane sitting with his back towards him, and his tail circled around the bounty hunter's shin.

"It's almost time to go," Zidane said without turning around.

Amarant propped himself up on his elbows. "I suppose it is…"

"Any life-changing revelations before we go?"

"A few. But they can wait until this thing with Kuja is over with."

Zidane looked back, a silent question on his face. 'How do you know we're even going to survive?'

"I know because we have to," Amarant replied. Zidane was a bit shocked, not knowing his face was so easy to read. "If we don't do it, we lose. So losing isn't an option."

He blinked, taking this in. "I guess you're right. It looks better that way. I'm surprised. Optimism isn't usually your style."

Amarant offered him a smirk. "Life-changing revelations?"

"Ready to go?" Eiko ran up to them.

Zidane quickly disentangled his tail, a slight flush coming to his face. "Yeah, if you all are."

Behind her, Dagger and Vivi came at a normal pace. "No use in putting it off and longer," the princess replied.

"It's gonna get dark soon. We should hurry," Vivi looked at Amarant and smiled. Amarant nodded back, a little shocked.

Zidane stood. "Okay, let's go. Kuja doesn't know what's coming for him. Losing is not an option!"

Everyone looked at each other. Then they headed out for the Iifa Tree, and Kuja.

Amarant watched the party.

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Karu: Sheesh Ama's getting complicated. What happened to the one-dimensional stoic I knew? –cries- Anyway, here's the responses!

Devilish Kurumi: And the best part is that he doesn't even care, right? And that's a good angle to look at it from. Do you think Zidane knew that too? I dunno, and I'm the one writing this! -sweatdrops- That's a good point tho...

Until next time!


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